Product Overview

Main Features

Server

blade

2-way

2 x Xeon E5-2609 / 2.4 GHz

RAM 64 GB

SAS

hot-swap 2.5"

no HDD

MGA G200e

10 GigE

10Gb FCoE

monitor: none

The Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS) combines Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers with networking and storage access in a single converged system that simplifies management and delivers greater cost efficiency and agility with increased visibility and control. This server increases compute density through more cores and cache balanced with more memory capacity and drives and with faster I/O. Together these server improvements and complementary Cisco UCS system advancements deliver the best combination of features and cost efficiency to support IT's diverse needs.

The Cisco UCS B200 M3 Blade Server delivers performance, versatility, and density without compromise. It addresses the broadest set of workloads, from IT and web infrastructure, through distributed database. Building on the success of the Cisco UCS B200 M2 Blade Server, the enterprise-class Cisco UCS B200 M3 Blade Server further extends the capabilities of the Cisco UCS portfolio in a half-width blade form factor. In addition, Cisco UCS has the architectural advantage of not having to power and cool excess switches in each blade chassis. With a larger power budget per blade server, Cisco can design uncompromised expandability and capabilities in its blade servers, as evidenced by the Cisco UCS B200 M3, with its leading memory slot and drive capacity.

Rated 5 out of 5 by JTB63 from This is a great system, it is confusing to work with but over time some things get easier and some get more confusing.

Date published: 2017-06-15

Rated 4 out of 5 by Cyril Cahigas from The most valuable feature is the UCS Manager which integrates everything.Valuable Features:The most valuable feature is the UCS Manager which integrates everything.Java and HTML 5 base admin console is now availableImprovements to My Organization:Its provisioning and ease of management have improved our functioning.Room for Improvement:Power Options for setting up Grid needs to have further customization.N+1 for power supply is not applicable in some data centersUse of Solution:I've used it for 3 years.Deployment Issues:We've had no issues with deployment.Stability Issues:We've had no issues with stability.N+1 for powersupply is not applicable on grid type data centersScalability Issues:It's highly scalable. With everything set up, downtime is never an issue when adding blades.Technical Support:Cisco has been very supportive to us, as well as the partnersInitial Setup:A bit complex since using the FI was new to us.Implementation Team:Vendor team were very helpful and was able to train us to use and manage the system.Other Advice:We used a Versa Stack solution so compute and storage was a breeze once setup was done.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Date published: 2016-12-08

Rated 4 out of 5 by rekosch from I appreciate the interface for UCS as it makes it much easier to manage specific scopes without having to go to the command line on a console. But you still need the console; I did not appreciate that I had to locate a port replicator and rollover cable to connect to the fiber interface.

Date published: 2016-07-14

Rated 4 out of 5 by Cyril Cahigas from The most valuable feature is the UCS Manager which integrates everything.Valuable Features:The most valuable feature is the UCS Manager which integrates everything.Java and HTML 5 base admin console is now availableImprovements to My Organization:Its provisioning and ease of management have improved our functioning.Room for Improvement:Power Options for setting up Grid needs to have further customization.N+1 for power supply is not applicable in some data centersUse of Solution:I've used it for two years.Deployment Issues:We've had no issues with deployment.Stability Issues:We've had no issues with stability.N+1 for powersupply is not applicable on grid type data centersScalability Issues:It's highly scalable. With everything set up, downtime is never an issue when adding blades.Technical Support:Cisco has been very supportive to us, as well as the partnersInitial Setup:A bit complex since using the FI was new to us.Implementation Team:Vendor team were very helpful and was able to train us to use and manage the system.Other Advice:We used a Versa Stack solution so compute and storage was a breeze once setup was done.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Date published: 2016-07-01

Rated 4 out of 5 by David Varnum from Having the capability to add chassis and/or blades to my environment with just a few cables is valuable.Valuable Features:Cisco UCS utilizes Service Profiles for server provisioning. These are logical profiles that are comprised of many smaller parts, such as BIOS settings, NIC settings, HBA settings, Firmware packages, boot policies and more. Creating consistency within your compute environment has proven valuable. Having the capability to add chassis and/or blades to my environment with just a few cables, and bringing these servers online with the required settings based on my profile is most valuable. Apply a Service Profile to a new, replace or relocated blade, and Cisco UCS takes care of the rest, provisioning as you expect.Improvements to My Organization:Cisco UCS has reduced our physical footprint, drastically simplified management and created strong partnerships between engineering teams.Room for Improvement:Software defects that result in false environmental alarms have been a pain point for us. These defects are not operational or performance impacting, but they do result in many hours troubleshooting to rule out any potential risks.Use of Solution:I've been using it for years.Deployment Issues:As long as everything is correctly designed and properly patched, deployment is a breeze with instantiation of VMs on-top of a configured UCS environment possible within just a few hours. This is aggressive scheduling, but it’s absolutely possible given the numerous options available for scripting and automation.Stability Issues:We hit a software defect once that caused a reload of some critical assets. This was immediately resolved and is the only true case of a stability issues I have seen.Scalability Issues:It's been able to scale for our needs.Technical Support:Cisco TAC is typically great to work with. UCS has a call home feature that will automatically open TAC cases on your behalf when issues arise. I’d recommend calling in critical cases to ensure timely response.Initial Setup:The initial setup as a first-timer can be overwhelming, but once you complete it, any subsequent setup is straightforward. The biggest thing is making sure you properly design the solution and develop a scalable schema. Take into consideration other environmental variables that require specific configuration, such as hypervisor BIOS settings versus bare-metal BIOS settings.Implementation Team:I recommend having someone experienced with UCS perform the initial design and deployment. This could be someone you have in-house, or someone you contract. You’ll want to make sure your schemas as setup properly, any unusual requirements are handled properly, and profiles are built according to best practices for your particular environment.Other Advice:Cisco UCS changed the server blade game, converging network and compute into a single profile-based platform. Now with HCI, Cisco is converging storage into UCS as well. I recommend getting in contact with Cisco and one of their channel partners for a whiteboard session, design conversation and potential proof-of-concept. This worked well for me in the past. I have since been capable of designing and implementing Cisco UCS environments without aid from external resources, only asking for design validations.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Date published: 2016-05-26

Rated 4 out of 5 by Alexander Kaufman from It's helped us to develop a new platform for virtualization, with a small footprint, and improved our computing power efficiency.Valuable Features:* Flexibility,* Management* VMware interoperabilityImprovements to My Organization:It's helped us to develop a new platform for virtualization, with a small footprint, and improved our computing power efficiency.Room for Improvement:It could be helpful to have a wizard to make the setup routine better, and a wizard to help with the managerial processes to avoid misconfiguration issues.Use of Solution:We've been using a Cisco 6296, 5100 Chassis, B-Series server B200M3, VIC1280 for two years.Deployment Issues:We have had no issues with the deployment.Stability Issues:There have been no performance issues.Scalability Issues:It's been able to scale for our needs.Technical Support:They are very professional.Previous Solutions:Our system used to be based on the usual rack servers, with Dell M1000 based blades.Initial Setup:The hardware setup was easy. The initial setup through the manager requires a deep understanding of the platform.Implementation Team:We implemented it with the assistance of an integrator who were a Cisco partner. I definitely recommended you get professional assistance to help with the initial run phase. It's critically important to provide formal learning to the internal team that will be in charge of the day-to-day operating activities.Cost and Licensing Advice:I'd recommend that you create a "turn Key" solution pack, including both hardware and platform licensing, and guest licensing. You could also get this by implementing it through re-sellers.Other Solutions Considered:We also looked into HP servers, but decided that Cisco was better in most areas. Combined with Nexus switches, it provides us with a versatile solution for a virtual platform including SAN fabric capability build in, networking flexibility and SDN, and is better to management.Other Advice:You need to have at least a basic understanding of the product concept and architecture variations in order to better understand use cases and ROI estimation in order to get the initial sizing right, and create the right scaling plan.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Date published: 2016-05-18

Rated 4 out of 5 by Adnan Ahmad from Benefits includes scalability, flexibility, and the fact it takes less time to deploy. There were stability issues in previous firmware versions.Valuable Features:* Remote Access to the device* Ability to scale to different servers* Centralized managementImprovements to My Organization:Customers and organizations are benefited by its scalability, flexibility, and the fact it takes less time to deploy.Use of Solution:I've used it for almost one year.Deployment Issues:In most of our deployments, no issues were encountered.Stability Issues:The product is stable (with new versions of the firmware), although previous versions were having some issue with stability.Scalability Issues:In most of our deployments, no issues were encountered.Technical Support:Very satisfied with the level of technical support from TAC.Previous Solutions:We were using HP Servers but switched due to it having better features and scalability.Initial Setup:The initial setup is straightforward, and a of lot technical documents are also available from Cisco to help.Implementation Team:We have implemented it through our own team in-house.ROI:It's a win-win situation for both customers and vendors due to its features.Other Solutions Considered:Before we had to look for other options, but now we just check the different versions of the product checking the features.Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:We are a Cisco Gold Certified Company.

Date published: 2016-03-27

Rated 4 out of 5 by Adnan Ahmad- 2xCCIE (DC,SP) from They're easy to deploy, scale and expand based on a number of server range available.Valuable Features:* Easy to deploy, scale and expand based on a number of server range available.* Centralization for different resources including network, compute and storageImprovements to My Organization:Any Datacenter or organization implementing UCS-B series will find it easy for its IT team in terms of changes required to add more servers and redundancy.Room for Improvement:Perfect device, but only if the GUI is made .NET-based, it will be more great.Deployment Issues:I've had no issues with deployment.Stability Issues:I've had no issues with stability.Scalability Issues:I've had no issues with scalability.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.